Stanford Runs Away From Cougars

Senior Jon Burbidge sacked Stanford's Trent Edwards for a 19-yard loss in the first quarter, forcing a fumble that would eventually lead to a BYU touchdown. (Photo by Mark Philbrick/BYU Photo)

STANFORD -- Stanford forced seven BYU turnovers and scored the last 37 points of the game as the Cardinal defeated the Cougars 37-10 Saturday night.

"I felt like we lost our composure," BYU coach Gary Crowton said. "If we can maintain our composure and be consistent, we are going to be a good football team. We were inconsistent offensively, inconsistent on special teams, and we had too many turnovers."

Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards led the Cardinal attack completing 20 of 41 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns. Todd Watkins led BYU with six pass receptions for 89 yards and Curtis Brown ran 16 times for 47 yards and caught one pass for 16 yards.

The Cougars struggled with turnovers, penalties, and injuries all game. BYU turned the ball over seven times and were penalized 14 times for 125 yards.

BYU quarterback Matt Berry, who missed significant time last season with injuries, was hit with the injury bug again after only three plays. With starter John Beck already banged up, third-string quarterback Jason Beck replaced Berry on the next possession. In all, the Cougars used four different quarterbacks with Berry starting, Jason Beck replacing him and John Beck and Jackson Brown seeing action late in the game.

Jason Beck looked solid in his first possession, helping BYU take the early lead on the Cougars' next drive. Brady Poppinga recovered a Stanford fumble giving the Cougars the ball on the Stanford 35. Beck made key passes to Austin Collie and Watkins to move BYU to the three-yard line before Fahu Tahi scored putting BYU up 7-0.

The scoring continued two possessions later as Beck moved the Cougars down to the Cardinal 22. After failing to put the ball in the endzone, Matt Payne hit a 40-yard field goal to put BYU up 10-0.

Appearing to be in control, the Cougars kicked off to Stanford's T.J. Rushing. He fielded the ball at the Cardinal one-yard line and returned it 99-yards for Stanford's first touchdown, pulling the Cardinal within three.

The return was the first time Stanford returned a kick for a touchdown since 1996 and the first time BYU gave up a kick return for a touchdown since 2001 against Hawai'i.

"We started out and got ahead," Crowton said. "They ran that kick back and that started things going in the wrong direction."

The return gave Stanford a boost of momentum. Its defense came alive and held BYU scoreless the rest of the half, while the offense added another touchdown and a field goal.

The next Cardinal touchdown came on its first possession of the second quarter. A BYU punt put Stanford on its own four but Edwards found Mark Bradford on a 76-yard pass in which he broke numerous tackles to put the Cardinal on the BYU 20.

The Cougar defense held, forcing Stanford to kick a field, which failed. But a penalty against BYU gave the Cardinal a first down and on the next play, Edwards found Alex Smith for a one-yard touchdown, putting Stanford up 14-10.

With two minutes left before halftime, Stanford fumbled the ball and BYU recovered. The drive was short lived as Jason Beck lost a fumble on the very next play. The Cardinal took advantage, moving down field thanks to a few Edward's passes and a critical pass interference penalty against BYU. Stanford kicker Michael Sgroi connected on a 19-yard field goal as time expired. Sgroi had missed his previous two attempts.

In the second half, Stanford outscored BYU 20-0, with seven in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth. The third quarter touchdown came after Beck threw an interception giving the Cardinal the ball at the 50-yard line. With 5:42 left in the game, Edwards found Justin McCullum for a 21-yard touchdown pass.

The fourth quarter scoring consisted of a touchdown and two field goals by Stanford. Edwards struck again with 14:21 left in the quarter, throwing his third touchdown pass of the game, this one to Evan Moore for 24-yards.

Less than three minutes later, Jason Beck threw his third interception of the game and four plays later, Sgroi hit a 29-yard field goal, putting the Cardinal up 34-10. The last Stanford score was a 41-yard field goal by Sgroi, which came four plays later after Austin Collie lost a fumble at the BYU 30.

The Cougars will return Provo to prepare for No. 1 ranked USC. The Cougars and the Trojans will battle Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium at 8 p.m. (MST). The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

"We had an opportunity to get off to a good start with our challenging schedule but we were inconsistent," Crowton said. "We've got to put it behind us and come back and regroup and get ready for Southern Cal."